All Rise...

The Charge

The Case

Chimpanzees are the closest relative to humans in the animal kingdom and they
fascinate us, so much that people have heated discussions about the identity of
Tarzan's pet from films made six decades ago. Pathetic as that may be, it
underscores the fact that these primates exhibit uncannily human behavior, with
clearly drawn emotions and an almost comic playfulness that we're drawn to, in
spite of the fact that they have been known to bite people's faces off from time
to time. For those same reasons, chimps are also used as experimental fodder,
both medically and sociologically. It was for science that a young chimp was
able to capture the hearts of America, and Project Nim documents the
fascinating and tragic life story of Nim Chimpsky, the chimp they tried to make
human.

Director James Marsh (Man on Wire) outdoes himself with this latest
documentary, an object lesson in the hubris and lack of compassion that can
plague mankind, and specifically the scientific community. It's the story of Nim
Chimpsky, named for Noam Chomsky as something of a joke after the linguist wrote
that humanity was the only species equipped for speech. A few days after he was
born, Dr. Herbert Terrace, professor at Columbia University, stole Nim from his
mother and handed him to Stephanie LaFarge, a research assistant and former
lover of the professor. With no knowledge of how to care for a primate, she
brought him into her home with her husband and their seven children.

The intention was to teach Nim sign language and, to an extent, she did. But
she also got him stoned, let him run roughshod on her house, and let him explore
her body. After a couple of years, when it became clear that they were unfit for
the study, Terrace brought Nim to a mansion in upstate New York with Laura-Ann
Petito, his new teacher (with whom Terrace would wind up having an affair, as
well). It was there that they made their largest progress. Through many teachers
over the next few years, Nim was able to learn some 125 signs. Amazing as that
might be, chimps grow up and, when they do, they become ultra-strong and
aggressive. After several bloody incidents and a general lack of continued
progress, Terrace ended the study and sent Nim back to the research facility
where he came from. That betrayal was only the beginning of the tragedy that
became Nim's life.

As depressing as some of Project Nim can be, it's also a supremely
compelling and well-constructed documentary, a combination of archival footage,
talking heads, and cleverly cut in reconstructions that give the full picture on
the motivations behind the experiment and the life of Nim Chimpsky. From his
teachers and some of their horror stories to the people who knew him later in
his life, it's easy to see that, while in many ways Nim was a regular
chimpanzee, his personality and training also made him uniquely able to touch
the lives of the people he encountered. The experiment, based on sloppy and
stupid science, didn't work, and it's appalling how little remorse Terrace seems
to have for the fate of the chimp or the people surrounding them. With the
addition of his inability to keep his paws off his students, Terrace comes off
like a grade-A sleazebag. Most of the others show a certain level of compassion
for the chimp and really tried to help him, but what they were involved in was
an abomination and, good as Nim's life may have seemed, was ultimately a very
cruel thing.

Imparting human qualities onto animals, especially in a scientific realm, is
dangerous and leads to the sloppiness of the experiment. Marsh shows this
brilliantly, but does not take a moral stance on the experiment or the result.
He keeps an even hand and lets the people involved speak for themselves,
delivering more questions than answers while still making the film both
entertaining and heartrending. Project Nim is a stronger film and a more
important story than Man on Wire, though his earlier film is more purely
fun. James Marsh is a highly skilled filmmaker who is able to provide both a
super compelling story and an informative treatise on the issues. Good show from
Marsh, all the way around.

The DVD of Project Nim from Liongate is acceptable, but is nothing
particularly special. The anamorphic image varies quite a bit, which is expected
given the archival source footage. The new interviews are sharp and nice, while
the older stuff is definitely a mixed bag. It looks as good as it can, but
ranging from Super-8 to Betamax, there's no doubt that some of it looks pretty
poor. The sound is similar. It claims a 5.1 mix, but since most of the footage
comes from mono or stereo sources and the rest are talking heads, it may as well
be a two channel track. The extras come in the form of a better than average
making of featurette that runs half an hour and a fifteen minute piece on Bob
Ingersoll, along with a trailer to finish it off.

Project Nim is a sad but extraordinary film documenting the hubris
that causes humankind to demonstrate their superiority over animals, even while
trying to prove how much "like us" they are. Filled with conflict and
no easy answers, there is plenty of room for further discussion about the fate
of Nim Chimpsky and the overall purpose of animal experimentation, be that
medical or sociological. How this didn't make the final Oscar cut is beyond me,
but it's certainly the best documentary I've seen this year.